The Offering of Midianite Jewelry

After the reprisal attack against Midian, the Israelite soldiers
presented an unusual donation to the Tabernacle: gold
jewelry seized from the Midianite women.

“We wish to bring an offering to God. Every
man who found a gold article — an
anklet, a bracelet, a ring, an earring, or
a body ornament — to atone for our
souls before God.” (Num. 31:50)

Why did the soldiers bring this odd offering to
the Tabernacle? The Talmud (Shabbat 64a) explains
that they felt a need for atonement
- not for improper actions — but for
improper thoughts when they came in contact with
the Midianite women.

Still, why not bring a more conventional offering? And
why does the Torah list all of the
various types of Midianite ornaments?

Some of the jewelry was of the normal variety,
worn in full view, such as rings and
bracelets. Other pieces, however, were of an intimate
nature, worn underneath the clothes, like the kumaz,
a suggestive body ornament. From the association that
the Torah makes between ordinary jewelry and intimate
ornaments, the Talmud derives the moral lesson that
“to gaze at a woman’s little finger [for
enjoyment] is like staring at her undressed.”

What is so terrible about enjoying a woman’s natural
aesthetic beauty?

The Snare of Superficial Beauty

On its own accord, beauty has intrinsic worth, and
can make a positive impression on the soul.
The soul gains a wonderful sense of expansiveness
when it experiences aesthetic pleasures that are pure.

However, if the beauty is covering up that which
is ethically repulsive, this attractiveness becomes a spiritual
hazard. The external charm is but a snare,
entrapping in its inner ugliness those caught in
its net. In general, we only succumb to
that which is morally repugnant when it is cloaked
in a veneer of superficial beauty.

This was precisely the casusbelli for the war against Midian.
The young women of
Moab and Midian enticed the men with their
outer beauty, leading them to perform the vile
idolatrous practices of Pe'or. The Midrash describes their
method:

“When [the Israelite man] was overcome by
lust and asked her to submit to him, she
pulled out a statue of Pe'or from her bosom and
demanded: ‘First, prostrate yourself before this!'”
(Sifrei 25:1; Rashi on Num. 25:2)

This phenomenon encompasses an even greater pitfall. The simple
act of staring at that which is prohibited
undermines the soul’s healthy sense of moral rectitude
and purity. If we are attracted to that
which is morally repugnant, we become desensitized to
the ugliness of the sin. The superficial beauty not
only conceals the inner sordidness, it diminishes our loathing for
it.

Even if the soul has not been sufficiently corrupted
to be actually ensnared in the net of
immorality, its purity has nevertheless been tainted by
an attraction to that which is forbidden. For
this reason, the Israelite soldiers who fought against
Midian required atonement. To make amends for their spiritual
deterioration, they brought a particularly appropriate offering: gold jewelry, whose
shiny and glittery exterior concealed its corrupt inner core. The
officers donated jewelry that is worn openly, as well as
ornaments worn intimately. They recognized that both types of jewelry
share the potential to desensitize the soul and damage its
integrity.